This award-winning stuffed eggplant recipe is pure comfort food and perfect for Easter, Ramadan, or any other day!
Roasted silky eggplant halves are stuffed with a fragrant mixture of spiced meat, tomatoes, and pine nuts.
The meat for the lamb stuffed eggplants is rich in flavor, seasoned with warm and cozy Middle Eastern spices, mixed with pine nuts for added texture, and then stuffed inside roasted eggplant boats.
📃Why it Works
- The warm spices season perfectly the slightly gamey taste of ground lamb, and the pine nuts offer a welcome texture contrast.
- Flavors and dishes like this stuffed eggplant with ground lamb are perfect if you love to try new cuisines in the comfort of your home.
- This easy savory dish from Jordan, which I've adapted from The New Mediterranean Table cookbook, is simple to make and needs to go at the top of your list of dinner ideas.
- Best of all, it's the ultimate comforting, healthy meal year-round, whether it's winter or summer where you are. What's not to love?
Eggplant, aubergine, or brinjal is grown worldwide for its edible fruit and is used in many cuisines, especially Persian and Mediterranean. I have to admit that I wasn't always a fan, but this dish made me join the team-eggplant!
When I was growing up, and the world was much smaller, we didn't mix sweet and savory. Spices like cinnamon were intended for desserts, not meats.
I remember my astonishment when my father talked about bazaars in Egypt and Sudan (he served there as a UN soldier), where the strong presence of cinnamon and clove scent in the air fills your nostrils for days. Your taste buds distinctly recognize it in lamb and beef dishes, just as they do in baklava.
Dad approved of this delicious stuffed eggplant dish and said it brought back some long-forgotten memories. That's a good enough testimony if you ask me. 🙂
🛒Ingredients and Notes
- Meat: To stay true to the traditional recipe, use ground lamb to stuff eggplants. You could easily mix or swap in minced or ground beef (I prefer 93% lean ground beef) or dark meat of chicken or turkey for the lamb if you'd like. I wouldn't use pork, though.
- Eggplant: You'll want fresh eggplants with white juicy flesh and not too many seeds. To choose the right eggplant, make sure it's not too large and it feels heavy. If an eggplant feels hollow or very soft, it's most likely past its peak freshness.
- Pine Nuts: If you don't like the taste of pine nuts, you can replace them with toasted almonds, walnuts, or pistachio. If you or someone you know has nut allergies, you can also use Panko breadcrumbs sprinkled on top for the added crunch.
🔪Step by Step Instructions
Step 1: Cook the meat
- In a large skillet, cook the onions, garlic, ground lamb, and spices over medium heat, stirring often, until the meat is cooked through.
- Stir in the crushed tomatoes and pine nuts if using, reserving a tablespoon.
Step 2: Roast the eggplants
- Arrange the eggplant halves cut side up in a large baking dish. Brush with two tablespoons of oil and sprinkle with some salt. Bake at 425 F until the skin is browned and the flesh is soft, for about 20 minutes.
- Cut the eggplant down the middle, making sure not to tear the skin on the bottom. Spoon the lamb mixture onto the eggplants in the baking dish.
- Cover the dish with foil and bake at 350 F for about 30-40 minutes. Sprinkle with reserved pine nuts and garnish with parsley.
👩🍳Top Tips
- Scoring the eggplant's flesh before roasting will encourage more of their juice to evaporate. Just don't pierce the skin as you want to avoid drying it completely out.
- Before adding filling to the roasted eggplants, you could lightly press the flesh down with the back of a spoon to fit more of the filling.
- If you have leftover lamb filling, freeze or store it in the refrigerator and use it the next day to toss it into a salad for a light lunch! Sometimes I like to make extra lamb mixture and freeze for later.
🍽 How To Serve It
- Stuffed eggplants go great with a side of Kurdish rice pilaf or sultana yellow rice, but you can serve this rich dish with brown or cauliflower rice for a healthier, low-carb meal.
- Served with flatbreads such as lavash, pita, or naan bread, this dish is even more filling and satisfying.
- Top with a dollop of sour cream or yogurt for an incredibly flavorful combination.
- Serve with dill pickles or a green salad topped with feta cheese, olives, and red onions, dressed with a classic vinaigrette.
Variations
- Top the lamb filling with crumbled feta or goat cheese before baking.
- You can use small, round eggplant instead and even stuff them whole. I think they are so cute and would be great as an appetizer or a side dish.
- You can also use this delicious filling to stuff zucchini and peppers if you don't like eggplant.
- For a delicious vegetarian or vegan alternative, leave the meat out entirely and use rice instead. Mushrooms and chickpeas work very well too.
❓FAQs
It's best to serve these stuffed eggplants fresh, but you can keep the leftovers stored in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Yes, eggplant skin is full of nutrients and perfectly edible.
I haven't tried freezing stuffed eggplants, but the filling freezes exceptionally well.
😋 Other Amazing Recipes to Try
- Eggplant Pasticcio
- Turkish Hummus Pita with Ground Lamb
- Greek Lamb Meatball Pita Sandwich
- Turkish Noodles with Lamb and Garlic Yogurt
- Bosnian Cimbur
- Eggplant Caponata
Liked this recipe? Leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating and/or a review in the comments section. Your feedback is always appreciated! Stay in touch through Pinterest, Instagram, and Facebook! Don't forget to sign up for my email list below too!
Roasted Eggplant and Lamb Recipe
Equipment
- Large baking dish
- cast-iron or nonstick skillet
Ingredients
- 2 large eggplants halved
- 3 tablespoons olive oil divided
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 onion chopped
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1 pound ground lamb
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 cups diced tomatoes
- ¼ cup pine nuts toasted (omit if following keto diet)
- Chopped fresh parsley for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Arrange the eggplant halves cut side up in a large baking dish. Brush with two tablespoons of oil and sprinkle with some of the salt. Bake until the skin is browned and the flesh is soft, for about 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, in a large cast iron or non-stick skillet, heat the remaining one tablespoon of oil. Add the onions and garlic, season with salt and saute over medium heat, stirring often, until softened.
- Add the ground lamb and the spices. Brown, breaking up the meat with a wooden spoon until the meat is cooked through, about 5-10 minutes. Stir in the crushed tomatoes and pine nuts, if using, reserving a tablespoon for topping.
- Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Cut the eggplant down the middle, making sure not to tear the skin on the bottom. Spoon the lamb mixture onto the eggplants in the baking dish. Cover the dish with foil and bake for 30 minutes.
- Garnish the eggplants with parsley and reserved pine nuts and serve immediately.
Expert Tips
- If you don't like the flavor of lamb meat, swap it with lean ground beef.
- You can replace pine nuts with toasted almonds, walnuts, or pistachio. Use Panko breadcrumbs for a nut-free version.
- To choose the right eggplant, make sure it's not too large, and it feels heavy. If an eggplant feels hollow or very soft, it probably has too many seeds, and it's past its peak freshness.
- Scoring the eggplant's flesh before roasting will encourage more of their juice to evaporate. Just don't pierce the skin as you want to avoid drying it completely out.
- Before adding filling to the roasted eggplants, you could lightly press the flesh down with the back of a spoon to fit more of the filling.
- If you have leftover lamb filling, freeze or store it in the refrigerator and use it the next day to toss with a salad for a light lunch!
- Keep the leftover stuffed eggplant stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- See the post for FAQs and additional tips.
- Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary significantly based on the products used and the amount served.
Nutrition
Update Notes: This recipe was originally published in March 2018 and updated in March of 2021 with new photos and recipe tips.
Lisa Mason says
I increased cinnamon to 1 TB, added 1 tsp paprika and half bunch chopped parsley to meat mixture, topped with sheep’s milk feta and extra pine nuts and parsley. Served with sultana basamati rice and green salad with Greek yoghurt as a topping. This was my fav dish when in Greece, they called it little shoes
Jas says
Oh, my! That sounds divine! Yes, I've heard that expression "little shoes." Super cute! 🙂